Same as the Grammys, but with preshow goodness as well, which means two hours more than Seacrest than one should really have in a week, but whatever, because there are clothes and Manolos and Fred Leighton…

Sorry, the realy girly girl part of me came out. i usually supress my fashionista side as I can afford nothing not available at Zellers and Superstore.

Speaking of pretty girls, Jude Law to play transsexual model in Sally Potter’s upcoming film. Leaked pic has him looking like a more tragic early 90s Winona Ryder.

Big Love for Big Love at HBO, picked up for fourth season.

M.I.A., Goddess, has announced she will attempt to perform Sunday at the Grammys- her due date. Oscars- still up in the air.

Punk fans around the world mourn the loss of Lux Interior, the leader of The Cramps, who were the ultimate psychobilly purveyors of the 70s through the millennium. He was 62 ( or 60, depending on the source), and had died of a long time heart affliction. He will be missed.

This could get me in huge trouble with Twilight fans, but- I’m sorry, Stephen King is right, Stephanie Meyer’s is not a great writer. Where he’s wrong is that she is a perfectly adequate writer with an inability to build a story successfully, which plagues many writers of popular fiction ( as opposed to the heady lit elite types like a Cheever or an Irving or an Updike- although they can fall prey on occasion as well). I know this because it’s my own issue when I write, I just haven’t been lucky enough to catch an agent or a publisher willing to look the other way ( plus I don’t write about vampires or wizards). The fact is, J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series is much better written as it was meticulously planned out , every plot point, over years before she committed a word to paper, leaving a clear channel for her to tell a very complex story about good and evil. While I found Twilight an amusing diversion, each preceding novel of the Meyer’s series seemed to lose the plot a bit until Breaking Dawn, which was so bizarre and out of character as to make the whole series seem ridiculous. Her prose is clunky, her dialog cliched, her story fantastical even in the realm of fantasy fiction ( believe and stick to your own mythology- never waiver). So please keep the blood spatter to a minimum, Twilight fans. It’s innocuous enough as a series that I don’t hate it, but I really can’t call it great literature. Stephen King is fundamentally right ( all though, I admit, tact is not his strong suit).

NBC rejects a PETA ad set to air during the Superbowl. Because vegans can’t possibly be football fans, you know.

The couple in Once had a fairy tale year last year. They fell in love, were in the best movie of 207, and won an Oscar for writing one of my favorite songs. Sadly, they have ended their two year relationship.

A woman has octuplets in California. And the eighth one was a surprise. I’m just thinking she’s nuts to attempt to try and breastfeed them all ( note- lactation supporters do not gang up on me- I breast fed my own kids, but seriously, all eight? No.)

Matt Damon states the obvious, Bill Kristol is an idiot, James Bond is a misogynist sociopath. Wait, say what on that last one?

Three arrested in the Bahamas for extortion after they try to scam $25 million from the Travoltas to prevent pictures of Jett’s lifeless body from making rounds. I am never going to the Bahamas.

Wikipedia contemplates rule changes after obits appear for Ted Kennedy and Robert Byrd.

Donny Osmond lets slip he’ll be on Dancing With The Stars. Expect a Foxtrot to ” One Bad Apple”, a waltz to ” Puppy Love”, and a rhumba to ” Any Dream Will Do”.

Project Runway filming at Bryant Park despite having no airdate for season six.

Mike White ( writer, Chuck And Buck, actor, School Of Rock, famed apatow crowd reject) to appear on The Amazing Race with his gay activist dad. This will be interesting…

Natascha McElhone ( Californication, The Truman Show) lost her husband to a heart attack only a few months ago while pregnant with their third child. This weekend, she finally brought him out into public, and his name is Rex.

Government decides to postpone mandatory conversion to digital from analog till this summer, angering fans who have put off sweeps viewing till March, and PBS, who will lose $22 million dollars due to the delay.

Rick Warren’s magazine Purpose Driven Connection debuts with an interview with President Obama. I guess they both meant it when they talked about post-partisanism.

M.I.A. is thrilled with her Oscar nom, but the real question is- will she be able to perform? She’s due to give birth on February 8- Grammy night ( which will explain her absence), and the Oscars are only a mere two weeks later.

Geeks, rejoice! Red Dwarf is returning.

Daniel Radcliffe invites the Obama girls to visit Hogwarts with him.

ABC has approved pilots of V ( yes, based on the early 80s sci-fi mini series classic), Lost In The 80s ( The Wonder Years meets Fast times At Ridgemont High meets The Ice Storm– I so wanna see it now…)

Marvel is being sued for $750 million because they ain’t sharing the Spidey pie.

EW’s Ausiello confirmed with David Shore and Katie Jacobs that indeed House and Cuddy will get it on later this season. Seriously? How much of Hugh Laurie do I get to view?

Question put to Idol fans- should anyone who has had a major label deal at one point be banned from competeing? Then at least the controversy will stop, right? I think the key is major label- indie artists have a much tougher go at it, but after Carly Smithson last year and that Joanna girl this year, the naysayers are sapping all joy out of the show. BTW- I didn’t think Joanna was all that and a popsicle.

The Dark Knight will reappear at IMAX screen across the universe. I’m gonna go see it again. You?

That Nimoy napkin on the Saturnalia episode of TBBT? Well, they got one actually signed by Spock himself and now they’ve put it on the auction block. Proceeds go to The Beit T’Shuvah “Steps to Recovery” Gala , Nimoy’s charity of choice. Suh-WEET!

Apparently, Elisabeth Moss ( Peggy Olsen on Mad Men and one time Zoe Bartlett in an alternate universe where Josiah Bartlett once ruled Ameirca) is engaged to SNL funny man Fred Armisen. Rumor is it was a whirlwind romance, but I wish them both luck, as she’s amazing and he makes me laugh consistently.

Some people are worried about the increasing Googlization of the arts- as Google wins the right to upload books to the net. Books. You know, those things with pages and covers that sit on shelves but no oneever opens anymore while waiting for th inevitable disappointment of a movie with companion video game?

1) Pleasant surprises: Richard Jenkins and Melissa Leo’s nominations for two very small indie flicks that were much revered ( Frozen River was a Sundance 2008 fave and award winner). They were also early 2008 releases and i was afraid they’d both be lost to later, showier parts. Leo you may remember from Homicide: Life On the Street. Jenkins is one of those ” That guy” actors ( I remember him as the psychiatrist Ben Stiller talks to at the beginning of There’s Something About Mary).

2) Stunned- STUNNED- but overjoyed by Michael Shannon’s nomination for Revolutionary Road. He had little buzz due to the Heath Ledger noise. He also has no shot, nor do Robert Downey Jr., Phillip Seymour Hoffman, or Josh Brolin, although Brolin has an outside shot ( he has actually won some critics awards). But if he was noticed by the Academy, Shannon’s odds might be better than we realize.

3) Expect Wall-E to win Animated. The other two flicks don’t stand a chance.

4) Dance With Bashir will win the Foreign Language award, even though Italy’s Gommorra was by far the best foreign film of the year ( it wasn’t nominated. What up?)

5) Peter Gabriel will be an Oscar winner for best song.

6) Best Doc Feature is a toss up between the stunning and engrossing Man On Wire, which has dominated pre Oscar shows. But do not count out the moving Trouble The Water. It’s about Katrina and the aftermath.

7) Robert Downey Jr’s nomination is only his second. Seriously.

8) Kate Winslet was nominated for the wrong movie. Therefore she will lose to Anne Hathaway unless they give it to Meryl, who gave what is possibly my least favorite performance of these nominees, but it’s MERYL.

9) Expect Mickey Rourke, Penelope Cruz to win for their categories. Cruz is a supporting actress nominee in a Woody Allen film. It worked for Mira Sorvino and Dianne Weist ( twice).

13) Apparently the Academy preferred the turgid, lumbering The Reader to the astonishingly acted, but cutting and depressing Revolutionary Road, which is clearly the superior film. Kate was resplendent in the latter, and as much as I love her, her performance in the former left me cold. RR picked up a few nods in lesser categories.

14) All the best directors have their pictures nominated as well. Remember, the Academy has a tendency to have a best picture nominee that apparently directed itself in the mix.

15) If Slumdog does indeed prevail, it will have done so without a single acting nomination. I can’t recall the last time that happened off the top of my head.

I know I have not posted much on the Globes Sunday ( or much at all this week), but I must post from an undisclosed location until my Internet issues are all worked out. And American Idol has started, but those posts do not start till the real competition starts after Hollywood week. Although I must say this about Idol- they’re trying to kill me with sadness this year.

But back to what I’m really here to post about, and maybe a post script or two afterwards. It’s still Award season. Oscar noms come out in a few days and you know I’ll be all over that. The race got really interesting over GG weekend as Slumdog Millionairepulled into front runner position over Benjamin Button, and Kate Winslet’s stock rose 1000% with her double win- we knew she’d score one if not two noms, but she’s now on the inside track to win one, as Anne Hathaway’s stock drops and Sally Hawkins must convince Academy voters happy is just as difficult to play as middle class ennui. Kate is one of the most deserving actresses out there, and a double shot of Oscar love next week would top her out at seven nominations by the age of 32. Even Meryl didn’t do that. I’m still not convinced Kate will win one, though, as Penelope Cruz is tough competition. But seeing that both Cruz and Hawkins are in lighter films, maybe Kate the Great will sneak in and win one. She will definitely not win both. Look for Mickey Rourke to be the front runner as well, but don’t count out Sean Penn. Heath Ledger is the closest thing to a sure bet this year. Say what you will about Oscar- every once in a while, he gets some interesting material to work with.

PS- still loving Hugh Jackman as Oscar host, but I love the guy anyway ( WOLVERINE! Sorry…). And I’m actually in favor of keeping the names of presenters secret till show time. We know some will be there ( tradition states last years acting winners present the acting awards). But the rest- well, makes me wonder.

BAFTA noms were announced today, and are as follow ( my picks for winner in bold, naturally):

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE The Baader Meinhof Complex
Gomorrah
I’ve Loved You So Long
PersepolisWaltzWithBashir

ANIMATED FILMPersepolisWall-EWaltz With Bashir

Also on the horizon- the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony. Granted, this is not really an award show award show, but I still love it. This year, our inductees are Metallica ( well, okay, while their attitude about fan sharing pisses me off, they did define modern heavy metal, so yeah, they deserve it), RUN-DMC ( hellz yeah, they made hip hop mainstream, used rock riffs as samples, and btw, ” It’s Tricky” is on SingStar 80s, and it’s really difficult for this rock girl, who bombed), Jeff Beck ( duh! moment), Bobby Womack ( sure, why not?), and Little Anthony and the Imperials ( 50s era- nice throwback, more influential on soul than you might think). Nice list, a fair list, and people who bitch about hip hop being in the HOF need to shove it up their asses. Country and pop artists get inducted. In all honesty, while called the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, it’s always been more inclusionary and has come off as a music Hall of Fame. But no Heart and no Cheap Trick makes me cranky.